Fuel jettison valve



United States FUEL JETTISON VALVE Filed June 24, 1957, Ser. No. 667,729

3 Claims. (Cl. 23-288) This invention relates to a valve system forjettisoning tuels from balloon, rocket or other carriers where thedescent of the carrier with unspent fuel would be hazardous.Specifically, the invention relates to a valve for dumping hydrogenperoxide from a carrier after a given lapse of time, or after ascent toa predetermined altitude.

In utilizing fuels such as hydrogen peroxide in an automatic airbornevehicle, a considerable problem arises with respect to excess or unspenthydrogen peroxide especially when it is desired to dispose thereof athigh altitudes or in cold weather.

It will be noted that 90% peroxide treezes at -11 C., and Water, whichis one of the decomposition products, treezes at C. It will accordinglybe evident that it is highly undesirable because of freezingcharacteristics alone to jettison either the concentrated or Whollydecomposed peroxide. A 50% concentration of hydrogen peroxide on theother hand has a freezing point of about --52 C. This concentration hasthe additional advantage of being below the point at which fires mightoccur therefrom.

This invention is directed .to a valve and catalyst arrangement which iscalculated to jettison hydrogen peroxide to decompose the same to about50% concentration and to utilize the released heat to keep the vent icetree.

In the drawing, 2 is the inlet pipe trom the fuel tank. pipe enters body4 of the valve through coupling 3. The valve casing 4 contains acentered needle valve 5 which seats in and closes orifice 6. Needlevalve 5 is operated through toggle lever 7 which projects through a slotin plate 8, which plate serves as a tulcrum for the lever. The inner endof toggle lever 7 rests in a slot 9 in the needle valve body and isopened and closed by movement of the outer end of lever 7. Polyethylenesheath 10 encloses lever 7 and is itself sealed to the valve casing bymeans of compression nut 11.

Clip 12 is pivoted at 14- and envelops the end of the sheath and leverand serves to actuate the same through the relay shown. A spring 20attached to lever 12 serves to bias the needle valve to the closedposition to prevent leakage. After passing the valve aperture, theperoxide passes through coupling 15, plastic tubing 16 and into catalystchamber 17. For purposes of this invention, the chamber is filled with acatalyst comprising fine aluminum turnings 18. Screen orifices 19 passthe peroxide and decomposition products to the atmosphere.

In operation, the relay is actuated by a time switch or minimum altitudeswitch which lifts needle valve 5 thereby permitting the unspentperoxide to pass on into the catalyst chamber. Here the large contactsurface plus the catalytic activity of the aluminum turnings quicklydecomposes the peroxide to about 50%. The heat liberated by thisdecomposition serves to keep the orifices 19 :free from ice despite thelow temperature which may prevail. Simultaneously the products ofdecomposition are emausted in a time spray and are at a concentrationsufiiciently low to prevent fires when reaching the ground.

I claim:

1. A hydrogen peroxide jettison valve for application to airborneobjects comprisiny a valve body, a valve seat in said valve body, alever operated needle valve positioned in cooperation with said valveseat, said lever protruding through a fulcrum in the side of said valvebody, flexible sealing means positioned over said lever thereby sealingvalve interior trom the atmosphere, a pivoted toggle arm positioned togrip the end of said lever, time and altitude sensitive means inparallel for actuating said toggle arm through a relay circuit, saidmeans becoming operative latter a given lapse of time and atter descentto a preset minimum altitude, a catalyst chamber positioned in serieswith and below said valve so that the jettisoned hydrogen peroxidepasses through said chamber before reaching the atmosphere.

2. A valve in accordance with claim 1 wherein the flexible sealing meansincludes a polyethylene jacket covering said lever.

3. A valve in accordance with claim 1 wherein the catalyst chamber isfilled with finely divided aluminum.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,329,584 De Marinis Feb. 3, 1920 1,396,809 Camell Nov. 15, 19211,887,235 Cornelius Nov. 8, 1932 2,634,745 Cornelius Apr. 14, 1953

1. A HYDROGEN PEROXIDE JETTISON VALVE FOR APPLICATION TO AIRBORNEOBJECTS COMPRISING A VALVE BODY, A VALVE SEAT IN SAID VALVE BODY, ALEVER OPERATED NEEDLE VALVE POSITIONED IN COOPERATION WITH SAID VALVESEAT, SAID LEVER PROTRUDING THROUGH A FULCRUM IN THE SIDE OF SAID VALVEBODY, FLEXIBLE SEALING MEANS POSITIONED OVER SAID LEVER THEREBY SEALINGVALVE INTERIOR FROM THE ATMOSPHERE, A PIVOTED TOGGLE ARM POSITIONED TOGRIP THE END OF SAID LEVER, TIME AND ALTITUDE SENSITIVE MEANS INPARALLEL FOR ACTUATING SAID TOGGLE ARM THROUGH A RELAY CIRCUIT, SAIDMEANS BECOMING OPERATIVE AFTER A GIVEN LAPSE OF TIME AND AFTER DESCENTTO A PRESET MINIMUM ALTITUDE, A CATALYST CHAMBER POSITIONED IN SERIESWITH AND BELOW SAID